Fence hook



May 29, 1934. 1 W MAAS 1,960,541

FENCE HOOK Filed April 7, 1933 V yf.

Slg f5/7H W M555 Patented May 29, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3Claims.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in fencesand refers particularly to snow fences.

These fences are put up along highways during the winter season as aprotection against exces-v sive drifts, and as they are usually placedupon the elds of farmers and of necessity, at a substantial distancefrom the highway, they cannot be permanent structures, but must be setup and taken down each season. For this reason, they must be light inconstruction and capable of being rolled up to permit them to beconveniently stored during the period of year when not in use.

The most practical construction for fences of this nature has been foundto consist of spaced vertical slats tied together by Wire links.

The fences are usually in sections of convenient lengths, which when thefence is set up for use, are placed end to end.

Heretofore, the adjacent ends of fence sections have been tied togetherby wire or cords which at best is but a makeshift and impracticalarrangement. In the first place, it requires considerable time, both inmaking the connection and 25. in taking it olf, and when the wire isremoved at the time the fence is taken down, it is usually thrown awayonto the eld of the farmer where it is apt to be caught in reapingmachines and other farm machinery.

After the fences are taken down and the sections are rolled up, it isthen also necessary to provide some means for tying down the outer endof the roll. This has also been done merely by tying a wire about theendmost slat and an adjacent slat, which obviously is an impractical and-ime consuming operation.

With these objections to the existing manner of connecting the adjacentsections of snow fences in mind, it is an object of this invention toprovide a simple convenient connecting member permanently attached toone end of each section and readily detachably engageable with theadjacent end of another section.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, my invention resides in the novel construction,combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafterdescribed and more particularly dei-ined by the appended claims, itbeing understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of theherein disclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of theclaims.

In the accompanying drawing, I have illustrated one complete example ofthe physical embodiment of my invention constructed according to thebest mode I have so far devised for the practical application of theprinciples thereof, and in which:

Figure l illustrates a section of a conventional snow fence rolled upfor storage and illustrating the manner in which the outer end is heldin place;

Figure 2 is a side view showing the adjacent end portions of twoconnected sections of fence; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail perspective view illustrating thespecific construction of the connecting member. A

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawing in whichlike numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, thenumerals 5 and 6 indicate two sections of a snow fence which, when inuse, are set up end to end, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3.

Each section comprises a series of spaced vertical slats 7, tiedtogether by wire links 8. The slats 7 are usually formed of woodimpregnated with some suitable preservative and the wire links 8 areformed by weaving two lengths of wire about the slats as illustrated.

As stated, when the fence sections are set up for use, they are disposedin end to end relationship with their endmost slats 7 spaced andparallel, to be held against separation by connecting members 9. Theconnecting members 9 are preferably formed of stiff Wire, and theopposite ends thereof are bent at substantially right angles. tions 10is curled or looped about one of the connecting links 8 at the end ofone of the fence sections so that the connecting member is therebypermanently and freely movably connected to the said fence section.

The other angularly directed end 11 of the connecting member, is formedas an open hook to be readily detachably engageable over the adjacentwire tie link 8 at the end of the other fence section. When in use, theangularly directed ends of the connecting link bear against the edges oftheir respective end slats 7 and securely hold these slats againstseparation.

If desired, a connecting member may be provided for each row of wireties 8 or the connecting members may be mounted at only certain of therows of wire ties as illustrated in the present instance.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art towhich this invention appertains, that the con- One of the angularlydirected end por? necting members 9 afford convenient and simple meansfor quickly connecting the adjacent ends of snow fence sections, andthat by reason of the shape and construction of the connecting members,accidental detachment is impossible as it requires a denite movementtogether of the ends of the sections and a positive turning of theconnecting members to disengage their hooks 11 from the ties about whichthey are engaged.

It is Yobserved that in the present instance, three connecting membersare employed and that the central link is inverted with respect to theother links; that is, its open hook 11 points upwardly, whereas thehooks of the other two links point downwardly. This guards againstpossible disengagement of all of the hooks in theevent of verticalshifting between the adjacent ends of the fence sections.

It is also readily apparent that the connecting members 9 not onlyafford convenient and sim-V pler means for readily detachably connectingthe adjacent ends of snow fence sections, but that they also provideconvenient means to tie down the free end of the sections when they arerolled up for storage.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In combination with a fence comprising end to end sections, eachconsisting of spaced slats tied together by wire links, means to readilydetachably connect the sections comprising a formed wire hook memberhaving a loop at one end permanently engaged over a wire tie link at theend portion of one section and having an open hook at its other end bentlaterally to engage over an edge of a slat and about an adjacent wiretie link on the end. portion of the other section.

2. In combination with a fence comprising end to end sections, eachconsisting of spaced slats tied together by wire links, means to readilydetachably connect the sections comprising a formed wire connectingmember having its end portions directed angularly to be substantiallyperpendicular to the connecting member, one of said angularly directedend portions being curled about a wire tie link at the end of onesection to permanently connect said member to said 'section and theother angularly directed end of the connecting member being formed as anopen hook for readily detachable engagement over a wiretie'linkpn theend portion of the other section, said angularly directed end portionsof the connecting member being engageable over the endrnost slats of thesections to retain the same against spreading.

3. A hook for readily detachably connecting adjacent sections of a snowfence having parallel slats connected by wire tie links, said hookcomprising a length of wire having its end portions bent atsubstantially right angles to the major medial portion to-engage overthe opposite edges of end slats of each section, one of said rightangularly bent end portions being looped for permanent connection to oneof the wire tie links of one of the fence sections and the other rightangularly bent end portion being formed as an open hook to be readilydetachably engageable with a wire tie link of the other section.

JOI-IN W. MAAS.

